Pampa del Tamarugal ("Plateau of the Tamarugal") is a vast plain encompassing a significant portion of the

Norte Grande The Norte Grande (''Big North'', ''Far North'', ''Great North'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It borders Peru to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Altiplano, Bolivia and A ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and originally named for the ''

Prosopis tamarugo ''Prosopis tamarugo'', commonly known as the tamarugo, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamilia Mimosoideae. It is only found in northern Chile, particularly in the Pampa del Tamarugal, some east of the city of I ...

'' trees that used to cover its surface. It is located between the parallels 19°30’ and 22°15’ south latitude and is considered part of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the ...

. It is bounded on the west by the

Chilean Coastal Range The Chilean Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa) is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, ...

and on the east by the western slopes of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The plain occupies a surface area of 12,500 km² with an average elevation of 1,100 m.

Tourism

Among the major tourist attractions in the Pampa del Tamarugal are the world heritage site

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are two former saltpeter refineries located in northern Chile. They were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, as a testament to the historical importance of saltpeter mining in Chile and the cul ...

, the town of

La Tirana La Tirana is a Chilean town in the commune of Pozo Almonte in El Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region. The town lies in an oasis in the middle of the Pampa del Tamarugal, about 72 km inland from the port of Iquique. The town is notable for i ...

, and the

Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve is a nature reserve of northern Chile's Tarapacá Region located in the Pampa del Tamarugal, about east of Iquique. The reserve consists of three separate sectors: Zapiga, Bosque Nativo de La Tirana, and Pint ...

Gallery

File:Pampa del Tamarugal 3.jpg, A modern forest in Pampa del Tamarugal as seen from

Chile Route 5 Chile Highway 5 or Route 5 known locally as ''Ruta 5'' is Chile's longest route, . It is part of the Pan-American Highway. Stretch It runs from the Peruvian border connecting with Peru Highway 1 north of Arica to Puerto Montt where it connects ...

File:Pintados2.jpg, Pre-Hispanic

geoglyph A geoglyph is a large design or motif (generally longer than 4 metres) produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignmen ...

s next to Pampa del Tamarugal File:Pampa_del_Tamarugal_2.jpg, A modern forest in Pampa del Tamarugal as seen from Chile Route 5 File:Prosopis_tamarugo.jpg, A ''

'' tree

References

Geography of Tarapacá Region Landforms of Tarapacá Region Atacama Desert Forests of Chile Plains of Chile {{Tarapacá-geo-stub

Tourism

Gallery

See also

References